1984 United States presidential election

1984 United States presidential election

← 1980 November 6, 1984 1988 →
538 members of the Electoral College 270 electoral votes needed to win
Opinion polls
Turnout	55.2%[1] 1.0 pp
Nominee Ronald Reagan Walter Mondale Party Republican Democratic Home state California Minnesota Running mate George H. W. Bush Geraldine Ferraro Electoral vote 525 13 States carried 49 1 + DC Popular vote 54,455,472 37,577,352 Percentage 58.8% 40.6%
Presidential election results map. Red denotes states won by Reagan/Bush and blue denotes those won by Mondale/Ferraro. Numbers indicate electoral votes cast by each state and the District of Columbia.
President before election Ronald Reagan Republican Elected President Ronald Reagan Republican

The 1984 United States presidential election was the 50th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 6, 1984. Incumbent Republican President Ronald Reagan and his running mate, incumbent Vice President George H.W. Bush, were re-elected to a second term in a landslide. They defeated the Democratic ticket of former Vice President Walter Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro.

Reagan and Bush faced only token opposition in their bid for re-nomination. Mondale faced a competitive field in his bid, defeating Colorado Senator Gary Hart, activist Jesse Jackson, and several other candidates in the 1984 Democratic primaries. He eventually chose New York Representative Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate, the first woman to be on a major party's presidential ticket.

Reagan touted a strong economic recovery from the 1970s stagflation and the 1981–1982 recession, and the widespread perception that his presidency had overseen a revival of national confidence and prestige.^[2] At 73, Reagan was the oldest person to be nominated by a major party for president, a record that stood until 2020. The Reagan campaign produced effective television advertising and deftly neutralized concerns regarding Reagan's age. Mondale criticized Reagan's supply-side economic policies and budget deficits. He also called for a nuclear freeze and ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment.

Reagan won re-election in a landslide victory, carrying 525 electoral votes, 49 states, and 58.8% of the popular vote. Mondale won 13 electoral votes from the District of Columbia, which has always voted overwhelmingly for the Democratic candidate, and his home state of Minnesota by a 0.18% margin.^[3] This was the second-largest share of the electoral college since 1820 (and the largest for a Republican), and the most raw electoral votes received by a candidate. This is the last time any candidate won the popular vote by double digits.^[4]

Since Mondale's death in April 2021, this is the latest election where all of the major party nominees for president or vice president are deceased.

As of 2020, this marked the last time the Republican nominee carried the states of Hawaii, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington. Meanwhile, West Virginia would not vote Republican again until 2000, Iowa would not vote Republican again until 2004, and Wisconsin has only voted Republican once since, in 2016. As of 2020, this is the only time an incumbent president defeated a former vice president and it is also the only time a major party presidential candidate defeated both the incumbent president and the latter's former vice president in consecutive presidential elections. As of 2024, this is the most recent election in which the Republican nominee won the popular vote for the second time in succession.